Record at a Glance
- Category
- Jan 6th
- Age in NPR record
- 54
- Location
- Citrus Heights, California
- Charges
- Entering and Remaining in a Restricted Building or Grounds; Disorderly and Disruptive Conduct in a Restricted Building or Grounds; Disorderly Conduct in a Capitol Building or Grounds; Parading, Demonstrating, or Picketing in a Capitol Building
- Case status
- Pleaded not guilty; Convicted; Sentenced
- Presidential action
- Pardon
Case Summary
Federal prosecutors allege that Patrick Woehl entered the U.S. Capitol along with a mob of Trump supporters on Jan. 6, 2021, and that he remained in the building - even as alarms went off - for more than 20 minutes. According to court documents, an FBI agent spoke to Woehl in the summer of 2022, and Woehl claimed to the agent that "he only went in the Capitol because police deployed smoke bombs behind him and the only way to avoid the smoke was to go inside the building." Woehl was arrested on Dec. 13, 2023.
Case History
Woehl pleaded Not Guilty to all charges. Found Guilty on all charges in a Bench trial on 6/6/2024. Sentenced on 9/23/2024 to 6 months of incarceration; 12 months supervised release; $500 restitution; $70 special assessment; 50 hours of community service. Woehl received a full pardon on January 20, 2025
Sources
- Primary Documentation
NPR Jan. 6 Defendant DatabaseNPR - Primary Documentation
Underlying court recordCourt record linked by NPR - Supporting Reporting
NPR video evidence pageNPR
Case summary, charges, procedural updates and image are drawn from the NPR Jan. 6 archive snapshot dated 2026-09-25 unless otherwise indicated.